“Arrow” recap (3.21): The Canary Cries

Previously on Arrow, Roy pretended to be The Arrow, then Roy pretended to be dead, Ra’s pretended to let Oliver reject his offer to become the next Demon’s Head, then Ra’s pretended to kill Thea, Laurel pretended she just wanted Nyssa to train her when probably she didn’t hate the wrestling matches or the post-training massages, and Oliver pretended to embrace his new place within the League of Assassins.

But the days of pretending are over. Oliver’s head is shaved, and that’s how you know he means business. He spends three weeks being tortured and tormented and trained, and when those three weeks are up, he is Al Sah-him and Oliver Queen is in the past.

While Ra’s is complimenting his skills, a few assassins present the Demon and his Heir with an intruder. When Ra’s asks why the intruder lives, they lift his hood to reveal that it is Diggle. Diggle cries out, swearing he’s been kept prisoner here this whole time, that they never really escaped, but Al Sah-him demands Diggle be given a sword and they fight, resulting in Diggle getting a sword through the chest. But when the assassins roll him over, it’s not Diggle at all; Oliver had been given a drug that causes hallucination, and everyone sees someone different during this test.

Ra’s tells Al that he was trained side by side with another warrior named Damian who both thought they were to be heirs of the demon. Ra’s hesitated in killing his opponent, so Damian got away with his life, some Lazarus water, a band of merry men, and has been wreaking havoc ever since. To prevent something like this from happening again, his own Heir is going to eliminate anyone who believes themselves to be heir to the demon. Ra’s gave a list of things Damian has been up to that made me feel like I should have been able to deduce who this man was, but I’m just here for the ladies of Arrow.

Speaking of which, Starling City is keeping the Black Canary busy.

She’s kicking a hooligan’s ass when he whips out a knife and the tables start to turn. Nyssa steps out from the shadow and ties the man up with those badass throwing ropes and gives Laurel some tips.

So much badassery in one frame.

She’s ready for more training, but Laurel says they’ve earned themselves some noms. Nyssa knows not what this means but can’t resist the glitter in Laurel’s eyes that are like a distant reflection of her beloved’s.

When their food comes, Nyssa is thinking maybe they should be called fried fries until Laurel makes her dip it in her milkshake (not a euphemism) and Nyssa thinks maybe they should be called little heaven sticks. It’s really quite adorable and if I didn’t know any better, I would say this is a lovely date.

Lauryssa?

Laurel tells Nyssa that she likes seeing her like this, eating normal food and wearing normal clothes and SMILING for once. Nyssa nearly giggles – giggles! – and says she’s totally normal. Doesn’t everyone like totally shoot arrows at people with their girlfriends just for funsies? No?

Nyssa grows serious and thanks Laurel for being so kind to her during her darkest time. Laurel could have pushed her away for being part of the League of Assassins, the organization that lead to the ultimate demise of her sister, but instead she chose to feed off their mutual love for Sara. Laurel is so like her father in so many ways, but so unlike him on this front.

Laurel says it’s the least she can do, after Nyssa saved her sister on the island, but Nyssa knows it’s different. Sara was in a literally dark place, she needed physical care, and it grew from there. Laurel saw a hurting soul and took it under her Black Canary wing. Not wanting to ruin the moment, but also not wanting to tarnish it later by making it be a chance she didn’t take, Laurel chooses now to tell Nyssa that Oliver accepted Ra’s al Ghul’s offer to be his heir. Nyssa is like, “Oh that sucks but I have three weeks before I have to worry about anything.” and Laurel is like “About that…” so Nyssa storms out angrily.

Meanwhile at the Diggle residence, Thea and Felicity are feeding little baby Sara and it is almost as cute as the Laurel/Nyssa date.

Wait no sorry this might be cuter.

Diggle comes home and everyone sits down for dinner. Felicity wants to give Diggle a vigilante uniform, Thea feels pretty good for the undead but misses her big brother, and Diggle toasts to Oliver Queen, gone but never forgotten.

Laurel catches up to Nyssa and apologizes again, and Nyssa says she doesn’t have time to lecture Laurel about her tendency to keep Really Important Information to herself because she thinks it’s helping when really it’s not because Nyssa has got to get the hell out of dodge. But Laurel will not stand for this; Nyssa is her friend, and Laurel will not abandon her. Nyssa says that’s sweet and all but Oliver is probably on his way right now with a billion men since he knows that’s how many it would take to kill her.

Please don’t die.

Laurel takes Nyssa to Team Arrow (which is now down two Arrows…) and they give them the low-down. Felicity is sure Oliver would never kill Nyssa, but Nyssa says that the Oliver Queen they knew is dead. Felicity is sure Oliver is too strong to be brainwashed, but as bad as Nyssa feels about saying it, it’s true. One of my favorite things about this scene was that Nyssa had no intention of telling anyone but Laurel any of this, but the only reason Nyssa isn’t halfway to Antarctica right now is because “Laurel insisted.” I can count on two fingers how many people could “insist” Nyssa do something and have her comply. Less if you only count living people.

Nyssa isn’t interested in hiding, though, and it’s far too late to run away, so she’s going to go face her destiny head on.

Felicity tells Laurel she doesn’t believe Nyssa, doesn’t want to believe her, but Laurel points to the vibrating air Nyssa left in her wake and says she has never seen that woman come anywhere close to terrified until this very moment. If they needed more proof of her character that what they’ve seen with their own eyes, Sara loved Nyssa, Sara trusted her, so therefore they should, too.

That being said, Laurel put a tracker on Nyssa’s phone to help them help her.

Felicity is so turned on right now.

Felicity is tracking Nyssa when Thea strolls in, asking to be part of the team. After all, she was trained by someone who was in the League of Assassins, so she’s more than qualified. Felicity isn’t sure that’s the best idea, and oh by the way your brother is back in town to kill the girlfriend of the girl your birth father drugged you into killing. And also he’s been brainwashed. Felicity promises they’ve got this 100% under control but Thea tells her she’s a terrible liar and she’s not wrong. Thea thinks she could get through to Oliver but Felicity says that people generally are supposed to wait 6-8 weeks after being resurrected before they get into their first deathmatch.

Across town, Nyssa stands on a rooftop. She hears someone join her on the roof and says aloud that she is standing where her “beloved spirit departed this world.” She is standing in the last place Sara Lance stood.

PLEASE DON’T DIE

Al Sah-him is here to take Nyssa back to Nanda Parbat, but she has no intention of losing to him yet again. Alas, perhaps because her heart isn’t in it, perhaps because suddenly the thought of dying in the same place as her true love suddenly sounds appealing, or perhaps because the writers keep forgetting she was a trained assassin since birth, Oliver ends up getting her by the throat. But before he can take her or kill her, Laurel shows up and cries a Canary Cry that I promise was way more badass than the name implies.

Caw caw motherfuckers!

Outnumbered, Oliver looks at them coldly and steps off the building, disappearing into the night.